7 Lessons from the Holocaust

While the Holocaust was “uniquely unique,” there are important universal lessons to be acted upon.

Whenever I write on the Holocaust – the Shoah – I do so with a certain degree of humility, and not without a deep sense of pain.

For I am reminded of what my parents taught me while still a young boy — the profundity and pain of which I realized only years later — that there are things in Jewish history that are too terrible to be believed, but not too terrible to have happened; that Oswiencim, Majdanek, Dachau, Treblinka — these are beyond vocabulary. Words may ease the pain, but they may also dwarf the tragedy. For the Holocaust was uniquely evil in its genocidal singularity, where biology was inescapably destiny, a war against the Jews in which, as Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel put it, “not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.”

But while the Holocaust was “uniquely unique” as Holocaust scholar Yehuda Bauer put it, there are important universal lessons to be acted upon. Indeed, I write at an important moment of remembrance and reminder, of witness and warning:

on the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the surviving remnants of “Planet Auschwitz” — the most horrific laboratory of mass murder in history;

on the 66th anniversary of the disappearance of Raoul Wallenberg – Canada’s first honorary citizen – whom the UN called the greatest humanitarian of the 20th Century, and who showed that one person could confront evil, resist and prevail, and thereby transform history;

in the aftermath of the 65th anniversary of the UN, which as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “emerged from the ashes of the Holocaust”; and as he reminded us, “a UN that fails to be at the forefront of the fight against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism, denies its history and undermines its future”;

on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Nuremberg Principles, which became the forerunner of international humanitarian and criminal law, reminding us also of the double entendre of Nuremberg — the Nuremberg of jackboots as well as the Nuremberg of judgments;

on the fifth anniversary of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.

And so, on this International Day of Holocaust Remembrance — on the eve also of the 60th anniversary of the coming into effect of the Genocide Convention — the “Never Again” Convention — we have to ask ourselves, what have we learned and what must we do?

Lesson 1: The Importance of Holocaust Remembrance – The Responsibility of Memory

The first lesson is the importance of Zachor, of the duty of remembrance itself. For as we remember the six million Jewish victims of the Shoah — defamed, demonized and dehumanized, as prologue or justification for genocide — we have to understand that the mass murder of six million Jews and millions of non-Jews is not a matter of abstract statistics.

For unto each person there is a name — unto each person, there is an identity. Each person is a universe. As our sages tell us: “whoever saves a single life, it is as if he or she has saved an entire universe.” Just as whoever has killed a single person, it is as if they have killed an entire universe. And so the abiding imperative — that we are each, wherever we are, the guarantors of each other’s destiny.

Lesson 2: The Danger of State-Sanctioned Incitement to Hatred and Genocide — The Responsibility to Prevent

The enduring lesson of the Holocaust is that the genocide of European Jewry succeeded not only because of the industry of death and the technology of terror, but because of the state-sanctioned ideology of hate. This teaching of contempt, this demonizing of the other, this is where it all began. As the Canadian courts affirmed in upholding the constitutionality of anti-hate legislation, “the Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers — it began with words”. These, as the Courts put it, are the chilling facts of history. These are the catastrophic effects of racism.

The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers — it began with words.

As the UN marks the commemoration of the Holocaust, we are witnessing yet again, a state-sanctioned incitement to hate and genocide, whose epicentre is Ahmadinejad’s Iran. Let there be no mistake about it. Iran has already committed the crime of incitement to genocide prohibited under the Genocide Convention. Yet not one state party to the Genocide Convention has undertaken its mandated legal obligation to hold Ahmadinejad’s Iran to account.

Related Article: Does the Holocaust Still Matter? http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48900947.html

Lesson 3: The Danger of Silence, The Consequences of Indifference — The Responsibility to Protect

The genocide of European Jewry succeeded not only because of the state-sanctioned culture of hate and industry of death, but because of crimes of indifference, because of conspiracies of silence.

We have already witnessed an appalling indifference and inaction in our own day which took us down the road to the unspeakable — the genocide in Rwanda — unspeakable because this genocide was preventable. No one can say that we did not know. We knew, but we did not act, just as we knew and did not act to stop the genocide by attrition in Darfur.

Indifference and inaction always mean coming down on the side of the victimizer, never on the side of the victim. Indifference in the face of evil is acquiescence with evil itself.

Lesson 4: Combating Mass Atrocity and the Culture of Impunity — The Responsibility to Bring War Criminals to Justice

If the 20th Century — symbolized by the Holocaust — was the age of atrocity, it was also the age of impunity. Few of the perpetrators were brought to justice; and so, just as there must be no sanctuary for hate, no refuge for bigotry, there must be no base or sanctuary for these enemies of humankind. Yet those indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity – such as President Al-Bashir of Sudan – continue to be welcomed in international fora.

Lesson 5: The Trahison des Clercs — The Responsibility to Talk Truth to Power

If the Holocaust proved anything, it is that a person can both love poems and kill children”.

The Holocaust was made possible, not only because of the “bureaucratization of genocide”, as Robert Lifton put it, but because of the trahison des clercs — the complicity of the elites — physicians, church leaders, judges, lawyers, engineers, architects, educators, and the like. Indeed, one only has to read Gerhard Muller's book on “Hitler’s Justice” to appreciate the complicity and criminality of judges and lawyers; or to read Robert-Jan van Pelt's book on the architecture of Auschwitz, to be appalled by the minute involvement of engineers and architects in the design of death camps, and so on. Holocaust crimes, then, were also the crimes of the Nuremberg elites. As Elie Wiesel put it, “Cold-blooded murder and culture did not exclude each other. If the Holocaust proved anything, it is that a person can both love poems and kill children”.

Lesson 6: Holocaust Remembrance — The Responsibility to Educate

In acting upon the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, states should commit themselves to implementing the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, which concluded: “We share a commitment to encourage the study of the Holocaust in all its dimensions… a commitment to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to honor those who stood against it… a commitment to throw light on the still obscured shadows of the Holocaust… a commitment to plant the seeds of a better future amidst the soil of a bitter past… a commitment… to remember the victims who perished, respect the survivors still with us, and reaffirm humanity’s common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice.”

Lesson 7: The Vulnerability of the Powerless — The Protection of the Vulnerable as the Test of a Just Society

The genocide of European Jewry occurred not only because of the vulnerability of the powerless, but also because of the powerlessness of the vulnerable. It is not surprising that the triage of Nazi racial hygiene — the Sterilization Laws, the Nuremberg Race Laws, the Euthanasia Program — targeted those “whose lives were not worth living”; and it is not unrevealing, as Professor Henry Friedlander points out in his work on “The Origins of Genocide”, that the first group targeted for killing were the Jewish disabled — the whole anchored in the science of death, the medicalization of ethnic cleansing, the sanitizing even of the vocabulary of destruction.

And so it is our responsibility as citoyens du monde to give voice to the voiceless, as we seek to empower the powerless — be they the disabled, the poor, the refugee, the elderly, the women victims of violence, the vulnerable child — the most vulnerable of the vulnerable.

We remember – and we trust – that never again will we be silent or indifferent in the face of evil. May this International Day of Holocaust Remembrance be not only an act of remembrance, but a remembrance to act.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Irwin Cotler is a member of Parliament and the former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. He is Emeritus Professor of Law at McGill University, and has written extensively on the Holocaust, genocide and international humanitarian law.

Visitor Comments: 14

(13)
Anonymous,
March 7, 2014 2:38 PM

Silence on Ukraine, Georgia

When Putins Russia invades Georgia, Azerbadjan and now Ukraine, we are silent or where do I see the demonstrations? Putin also by the way supports Assad and Iran, so closer to Jewish interests than on first glance.

(12)
Isahiah62,
February 27, 2011 9:15 PM

Never Again?

sorry I meant 1-6 in my previous comment-
and just one more example of THEFT:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/never-again-for-anyone-the-latest-anti-semitic-campaign/

(11)
Claire,
February 27, 2011 7:43 PM

Questions?

I was told once that the Jewish people had experienced many holocausts due to their disobedience to God. There were and there are millions of Jews that considered themselves Jewish/Atheists. Karl Marx was the founder
of Marxist Communism, an Atheist.
What is to be a Jew? is it about believing in the existence of a one God?
Judaism is a religion, you are a Jew regardless of your beliefs?

(10)
Isahiah62,
February 27, 2011 7:41 PM

Plus ca change Plus c'est la meme chose

the present time shows that 1-7 we have totally failed- instead of never again it's here again- the Myth is alive- the truth is dead- the newest Nazis have co-opted the language and history as their own- and the worst part is, USA and Israeli Left think exactly like German Jews- oh it can;t happen here-onh I'm not religious, oh that won't ever happen again- look around read any newspaper about Israel- look at UN- look at Obama admin-look at boyvcotts, deligitimization- look at how Jews are being portrayed in media-
see your fellow Jews ignore or appease or deny- worse defending the newest Nazis- history repeats- it's 1933 all over again

Anonymous,
April 11, 2011 9:56 AM

A Mammoth Force Against Israel

Samantha Power, the female top advisor for Obama's Middle East policies, called for what she termed as
" a mammoth force against Israel". How mammoth could that be? A US nuke to destroy Israel??

(9)
francisco fialho,
February 27, 2011 7:06 PM

every one who is in condition and the mood to fight antisimetism should concentrate on psychological and behavioral fundamental that forces people to act so terribly awesome and still believing they are right, doing well!!!!!

There must exist some cerebral dysfunction trigerred by well structured and sufficiently powerful words so as to force thousands even million of people to act in wrong directions, even if they are aware of the bad nature of their acts. i am not referring of the convincing speeches used but the reaction of inside the people's brain. maybe some kind of enzyme contributes to disrail someone's ideas, provoking mental disorder. If it is possible to discover the inner and profound causes of all these terrible actions it may give us the hope and the allowance to dream for peace & love all over the human king in this poor planet!!!!
I am mentioning that all because it's not the only catastrophic incident in human history.

(8)
Anonymous,
February 27, 2011 3:48 PM

The most imprtant of all is to behave and not to show off with your money or anything. "Lomo Tisrui"

(7)
B Sloan,
February 1, 2011 8:15 PM

Shoah was more than concentration camps

As horrid as the death camps were, we must remember that millions more suffered due to anti-Semitism and displacement before and during WWII. I have seen it in the personalities and concerns of dear friends who managed to leave Austria just before the German take-over.
Thank for the sensitivity shown here.

(6)
Eugene Blank,
January 31, 2011 3:10 PM

Shoah Returns

Who are the vulnerable? The poor, everywhere, always-- the poor in the USA, the poor anywhere in the world-- they are voiceless and vulnerable. Who speaks for them? Barack Obama has the opportunity now. Will he seize it?

(5)
Anonymous,
January 31, 2011 7:03 AM

Strength initiates respect and accepatnce

. My immigrant parents form Europe were sensnitive to anti semitism and told stories of how jews were victimized by progroms organized by their neighbors who were aided and abbete sometimes by local police. The war of hatred began long before 1939, If Jews retaliated they were met with increased harrasment so they were submissive. It was impossible to feel secure. .It would apperar if history is a lesson i that Jews should immediately respond to negative conduct .and thanks to Bnai Brith and other such Jewish organization there is a voice. If words or dipllomacy are not sufficient possibly there should be an organized jewish underground to be called in,in order to assist local police who might feel more secure with jewish assistance. if you display a strength to deal with cowards it is my opinion they wil respect you and back off..

(4)
,
January 31, 2011 6:25 AM

If the holocaust started with words, words can also be used to unite Christians around the world to support the Jews and that's what I am doing.

This articel was very enlightening. Thanks

(3)
ruth housman,
January 30, 2011 11:34 PM

lessons from a time of terror, injustice, inhumanity

Everything you say is so right. There is nothing to add to this, really, except to feel, we need to do something very different in the next decade, moving towards 2020, which does mean, in English, "perfect vision". For me, it's about our environment, meaning how we act towards each other around the world, about humanity, about the land, the birds, the trees, what grows, the animals. It seems if there is a lesson within all this sadness, that bows us, as a branch bends, and turns toward the ground, humble in its burdens, it is, we cannot let the Holocaust, remain a "hollow cost", meaning the substance of what happened needs to be the fire, the fuel that passions never again and a new ethos towards the entire world.

(2)
Reg,
January 30, 2011 10:58 PM

Important lessons of an unbelievable horror

A wonderful article, containing important lessons. Although I am a Gentile, I am horrified (as people of
all races and religions should be), at man's inhumanity to man. I still find the Holocaust almost unbelievable in its horror.

(1)
jgarbuz,
January 30, 2011 9:37 PM

There is only one lesson from the Holocaust

Every people needs a homeland and its own land and army to defend themselves with and from. No minority group can count on the majority of citizens to defend them. Going by all I have seen in the last 64 years of my own life, nothing much has changed.

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

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